The loophole that keeps a Trump loyalist as L.A.’s federal prosecutor

Across the country, President Trump has appointed hand-picked loyalists as top federal prosecutors. Several were expelled after legal battles because they lacked Senate confirmation to serve as U.S. attorneys.

But in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli wields the power of a high-ranking prosecutor under a lesser title: “first assistant.”

Essayli completed his first full year in power this week. He survived the kind of challenges that failed Trump in other states thanks to a combination of legal gambits by the U.S. Justice Department and a lack of action by judges in the Central District of California.

Essayli used his position to act as one of Trump’s fiercest legal foot soldiers. He has pursued criminal charges against protesters, activists and immigrants, while dropping cases involving administration allies and supporting lawsuits over transgender and environmental policies in California.

After Trump’s firing Thursday of U.S. Attorney. Gen. Pam Bondi, it’s unclear how her replacement will handle the continuing battles over the legality of Trump’s appointments. Essayli is popular with top administration officials and received a congratulatory message on X from Vice President JD Vance for filing fraud complaints earlier this week.

Essayli, 40, a former conservative state Assembly member from Riverside County, was sworn in as acting U.S. attorney last April. By the time he reached the 120-day limit for that role, Bondi named him “special counsel” and designated him “first assistant.” A federal judge later disqualified Essayli as acting U.S. attorney, finding he “did not lawfully occupy” the top job. But the judge said he had no authority to overturn Essayli’s designation as first assistant. With no one above him in the office, that title leaves Essayli as the de facto U.S. attorney.

In other jurisdictions, members of the federal judiciary have exercised their authority to appoint an acting U.S. Attorney. The office of Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee did not respond to a request for comment on why no similar action has been taken in Los Angeles.

A court spokesperson declined to comment. Essayli did not respond to a request for comment. The White House referred questions to the Justice Department.

A Justice Department spokesperson released a statement praising Essayli for prosecuting “transnational drug cartels and criminal organizations, sex traffickers, violent street gangs, left-wing rioters and domestic terrorists, fraudsters and child predators.”

“It does a disservice to our prosecutors and the American people when judges prevent the President and Attorney General from appointing qualified and competent prosecutors who will aggressively enforce our laws and make America safe again,” the Justice Department spokesperson said.

The inaction by Gee, a President Obama appointee, surprised some legal observers, especially given how quickly judges in other districts acted. It also frustrated some former federal prosecutors who fled their positions during Essayli’s chaotic tenure.

A former assistant U.S. attorney, who left the office under Essayli and requested anonymity to discuss the sitting judges who will likely preside over their future trials in the district, accused Gee and others of “shirking their responsibilities” by not appointing anyone to the vacant U.S. attorney position.

Another former Central District attorney who left office before Essayli’s appointment said Gee was being hands-on, taking a “protective” stance to “keep the court away from the anger and invective coming from the White House.”

It’s “unfair to say the court is abdicating its authority,” said the former prosecutor, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly about district judges.

In keeping with a long-standing Senate tradition, individual senators can block a U.S. attorney nominee in their home state by withholding their “blue slip,” paving the way for a confirmation hearing.

Trump attempted to circumvent the Senate confirmation process to appoint top federal prosecutors in several states, including New Jersey and Virginia, where two of the president’s personal attorneys were named U.S. attorneys — who immediately took steps to zealously advance the president’s agenda and, in some cases, prosecute his rivals.

In Virginia, Trump replaced US Atty. Erik Siebert, a candidate under Senate consideration, with one of his former personal attorneys, Lindsey Halligan. Siebert had declined to prosecute some of Trump’s political enemies and resigned. In his first-ever criminal case, Halligan quickly moved to indict former FBI Director James B. Comey. The lawsuits were later dismissed and Halligan’s appointment was found to be illegal.

In the Northern District of New York, when judges decided to oust the president’s former campaign attorney — who had been given the same “top aide” title as Essayli — Justice Department officials immediately fired his replacement.

Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, said Trump’s attempts to circumvent normal confirmation processes were unconstitutional.

“This is very troubling because it circumvents the constitutional procedure by which the president nominates and the Senate confirms. This is crucial for checks and balances,” he said. “It allows the president to appoint whoever he wants.”

Although Essayli has more law enforcement experience than most of Trump’s chosen prosecutors, he still struggles to score victories in court. His prosecutors lost almost every case they brought against anti-Trump protesters and dropped others after grand juries refused to return indictments.

Meghan Blanco, a former federal prosecutor and veteran defense attorney, suggested that Gee’s inaction with Essayli might be a smart act of resistance. Rather than fight with the White House, Blanco said, the justices are letting the chief prosecutor fall face down.

“If you’re a judge and unhappy with what the DOJ is doing and the shenanigans they’re pulling… you’re letting Essayli’s nomination play out,” Blanco said. “No one has seen a U.S. attorney’s office lose as much as this office is losing right now.”

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told the Times this week that he is working with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to craft legislation to clarify the procedures required to appoint U.S. attorneys and prevent Trump and future presidents from bypassing the Senate.

The legislation, which Schiff did not describe in detail, will face an uphill battle even if Democrats retake the Senate in the midterms. But the California senator said he was determined to challenge Trump’s maneuvers.

Schiff said Essayli “could not be confirmed and for one reason: He lacks the judgment, temperament and integrity required of a U.S. attorney.”

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor, said local federal judges might think it would be “more disruptive to try to put someone in office when the administration just fires them.”

But their inaction, she said, effectively confirmed Essayli as U.S. attorney — and highlights “a real weakness in the system” that demands a legislative fix.

“At the end of the day, you have an administration that just doesn’t want to follow the rules,” she said. “There has to be some political will for Congress to do its duty.”